If You're Happy and You Know It, Touch Your Toes

I took for granted being able to touch my toes until I couldn't touch them anymore. Baptiste yoga has a lot of sun salutations and I got quite familiar with my shins. There was very little difference between my forward fold and my half forward fold, but at least I was able to show up to yoga class.

My precalculus class conflicted with my Monday night yoga class at Dancing Dogs Yoga, but last night I was able to return for Zach's class. His class is my favorite. Miracle of miracles, I could touch my toes. I could forward fold and touch the mat. I could jump back into plank for chaturanga. I was even able to flip my dog and hold a side plank. And then I did a wheel.

Maybe my consistent hard work and dedication to healing has paid off. Maybe it was my new cork B Mat yoga mat. It gets grippy when you sweat on it, making it perfect for sweaty hot yoga.

I don't think my back is magically cured. I still feel it several times a day and I make sure to ice it before bed. I've started to sleep with a pillow between my knees because I am a side-sleeper and I've noticed a difference in my posture since I started doing that. Regular movement from walking to class, spinning at Rukus, and yin yoga has been helpful. I started Be Better group training with Sarah Furman last week and we are focusing on our posterior chain. Taking time off from lifting was needed but I think just 2 days a week has already been beneficial.

New yoga mat feels.

Dancing Dogs Yoga now has yin yoga on Sundays with Alex. I highly recommend Alex's class because I love yin yoga and she's a lot of fun to be around. Yin yoga has you hold poses for 2+ minutes with the assistance of props. I find lying on a bolster in half pigeon to be a great way to cap off a weekend, and it doesn't hurt that I usually head over to Superica for a margarita on the way home.

Swim Lessons

I have a confession to make. I am an ugly swimmer. I am totally capable of getting from point A to point B, but there's a lot of splashing around and the occasional doggy paddle. I'm a rescue scuba diver by the way, so ugly swimming will not prevent you from dragging someone's ass to safety, in case you were wondering.

My friend Spenser is a badass mama and she signed her son up for infant swim lessons. E rocked it, and I loved following along with his progress on Facebook. His success got me thinking... if he's one year old and learning to swim, what's holding me back from achieving my secret dream of swimming beautiful laps? So I got to searching for swim classes.

It's difficult to find adult swim classes for people who can already swim. The options tend to be swim classes for adults who have no water experience or people looking for swim coaches to improve their triathlon performance. I am neither, and was getting discouraged when I stopped into Georgia State University's student recreation center to check out their gym. The aquatic center offers beginner, intermediate, and advanced swim lessons for TEN BUCKS for a 6 week course. (It's $20 for staff and alumni.)

The Aquatic Center at GSU